An April Fool

And the winner of this year's April Fool competition is....... Niall Ferguson.
In today's Sunday Telegraph, history's answer to Steve McClaren, argues that Britain's foreign policy is... wait for it... too nice!!!
According to Fergie, it's Britain's niceness that's to blame for this week's Iranian hostage stand-off. It's a 'niceness' that Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis of course know all about. If only Britain's foreign policy was nastier, bemoans Ferguson, then tin-pot countries like Iran wouldn't dare to take our soldiers captive. I wonder how that nastiness could be achieved? Instead of illegal invasions of sovereign states every three or four years, how about doing it once a year? Instead of raining down depleted uranium on civilian populations, how about using mustard gas instead? Instead of making threats to Iran on an almost daily basis, how about nuking Tehran, each and every Friday?
Would that be nasty enough for Mr Ferguson?